The History of Coffee in Indonesia
Imagine a world without coffee! Even if you are not a coffee drinker, imagine the shopping centres and high streets...
There’s Gold in them thar Hills
The western foothills of the volcano look rather desolate, consisting largely of dry shrubland with a few stunted trees. During...
Soroako – Home of Indonesia’s Deepest Lake
A surprisingly pleasant destination for a relaxing holiday Soroako, a small nickel mining town in East Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi...
A Brief History of Tobacco
Tobacco was first cultivated in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes, from where it spread north and south till it covered...
Participatory Flood Risk Management: What the common man in the street can do
It wasn't unexpected although it has happened many times before. But still, when confronted with the swirling mass of brown...
Georgius Everhardus Rumphius: From Hobby to Fame
She was called Rumphius in honour and remembrance of the first naturalist of Ambon. Her hull was painted yellow and...
Martha Christina Tiahahu – a Moluccan Heroine
This is Ambon in the early 80s of last century. The land we were going to build houses on was...
Islam in the Netherlands East Indies
Islam came to Indonesia by way of Malabar and Coromandel, the respectively south-western and south-eastern coasts of India, along the...
How the Other Half Lived – Batavia in the 18th Century
Founded in 1619 on the smouldering remains of Jacatra, Batavia was meant to function as a depot for the produce...
Modern Slavery
She was promised a well-paying job as a waitress-receptionist in Batam. The establishment, although Chinese-owned, was fully halal, so, no...
The Sad Story of Pieter Erberveld
There are a number of versions to this story. Depending on the narrator, the good people of Batavia were saved...
Traffic Sense: The Right-Turn Phobia
Have you been frustrated lately sitting in your car and not moving? I’m sure you have as these endless traffic...
Indonesian Heritage Society
Located on the 17th floor of Sentral Senayan 1, a square office tower next to the Sogo side of Plaza...
Health Issues of the Past in the Present’
I remember friends and family with small children regularly consulting their well worn copy of Baby and Child Care by...
Colonies – Dutch East Indies vs. British India
Examining a map of the world, preferably a globe, one cannot but wonder how a few nations, occupying but a...
Thomas Stamford Raffles and The History of Java
If I were to ask you, who Stamford Raffles was, you would most likely answer: the founder of Singapore. In...
Marriage Curstoms-Balinese Elopement
I was browsing my Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch Indië, not looking for anything specific as I was curious who or what...
A Ghost In The Backyard
It used to be a house in Menteng but had been converted to an office. In many instances, the old...
JAKARTA – from Health Hazard to Traffic Jams
Batavia, as Jakarta was called during the colonial days, was once styled the “Queen of the East”. This label was...
BALI–Before The Tourists Invaded
Traders-colonisers from the coast of Coromandel brought Hinduism to Java. The religion was adopted by the Majapahit kingdom in the...